Clothes washing machine having agitator mounted filter and dispenser



P. W. DOUGLAS 3,330,135 CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE HAVING AGITATOR MOUNTED FILTER AND DISPENSER Filed Oct. 25, 1965 2 SheetsSheet 1 INVENTOR Peyion W.Douglus /d W a l/ din y H, 196? P, w. DOUGLAS CLOTHES WASHING MACHINE HAVING AGITATOR MOUNTED FILTER AND DISPENSER Filed Oct. 23, 1965 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 m R 5 0 0 an M n m n .7 UN3NM l w W 6 n g, 4

3,3395135 Patented July 11, 1967 ftice CLGTHES WASHING MACHINE HAVING AGITATOR MOUNTED FILTER AND DISPENSER Peyton W. Douglas, Bemus Point, N.Y., assignor to Blackstone Corporation, a corporation of New York Filed Oct. 23, 1965, Ser. No. 503,549 1 Claim. (Cl. 68-18) This invention relates to domestic laundry machines and particularly to a domestic laundry machine having impeller mounted screen and bleach and fabric conditioner dispensers.

In the field of domestic laundry machines particularly of the so called automatic type in which washing, rinsing and centrifugal drying are cylically carried out, it is highly desirable that the water in the system be periodically treated in some manner to remove lint and like insoluble material in order to avoid its being deposited on the clothes being washed during the centrifugal drying step. It is at the same time equally desirable that bleach and fabric conditioner be automatically dispensed into the system at the proper time in the washing cycle. Many devices have in the past been proposed to accomplish one or more of these purposes. For example, Bariffi Patent No. 2,282,847 provides a screen mounted on the upper peripheral edge of the clothes receptacle with a pump to circulate water from the receptacle into the screen. Patent No. 2,481,979 issued to Colley provides a screen mounted on top of the impeller with a pump similar to that of Barifi'i to circulate water from the clothes receptacle to direct it at a particular angle to the screen. Both of these devices require separate pumps and pipe to accomplish this end. Abresch Patent No. 2,942,444 provides an impeller with an internally mounted screen which discharges water from the screen through openings alongside the vanes. This device eliminates the need for an auxiliary pump; the flow is relatively restricted by the outlet opening arrangement. None of these devices combines the impeller with an internal screen, a bleach dispenser and a fabric conditioner dispenser arranged to act in selected different portions of the wash cycle.

I have invented a laundering machine in which the impeller combines the functions of an impeller, a screen, a pump, a bleach dispenser and a fabric conditioner dispenser, all acting at a preselected point in the wash cycle.

In a preferred form of my invention I provide in a laundry machine adapted to proceed through a sequence of operations including a washing operation, a centrifugal extraction, a rinse and a centrifugal drying operation, a rotatable clothes receptacle, an impeller in said clothes receptacle for independent reciprocal movement on the axis of rotation of the clothes receptacle, drive means for selectively oscillating the impeller and rotating the clothes receptacle and impeller, a hollow central passage in said impeller, spaced hollow radial vanes communicating with said central passage adjacent its lower end and discharging adjacent the outer circumference of said impeller at a point spaced inwardly from the ends of the vanes, inlet openings in said impeller intermediate the ends of the central passage, removable screen means in the central passage between the inlet openings and the spaced hollow radial vanes whereby water is caused to flow through said inlets, through the screen and out the vanes, cup means in the end of said screen forming a support for said screen and a receptacle for a clothes treating or wash agent, openings in said cup adapted to permit water to flow in and out of the cup as the impeller oscillator and a rinse agent dispenser on the agitator partially within the central hollow passage including a first annular receptacle for said rinse agent within the central passage for holding said rinse agent during oscillation of the impeller, a second annular receptacle having a perforate bottom surrounding the first annular receptacle and the outer periphery of the impeller for receiving said rinse agent when the impeller is rotated in the centrifugal extraction step and discharging the rinse agent through the perforate bottom upon termination of the centrifugal extraction step. Preferably the rinse agent dispenser, the wash agent cup and the screen are a unitary assembly which may be removed as a single unit.

In the foregoing general description of my invention I have set out certain objects, purposes and advantages of my invention. Other objects, purposes and advantages will be apparent from a consideration of the following description and the accompanying drawings in which,

FIGURE 1 is a section through a clothes receptacle and impeller embodying my invention;

FIGURE 2 is an isometric view partly in .section of the impeller of FIGURE 1; and

FIGURE 3 is an isometric view partly in section of an impeller segment having a second embodiment of my invention.

Referring to the drawings I have illustrated a clothes receptacle 10 having a vertical reciprocable shaft 11 journaled through the bottom thereof in usual manner. The upper end of the shaft 11 is provided with a spline 12 adapted to receive a female spline 13 carried on a spider 14 within the hollow shaft 15 0f impeller 16. A plurality of spaced vertically extending slots 17 are provided in the wall of hollow shaft 15 communicating from the exterior of the shaft to its interior. A plurality of spaced hollow vanes 18 are provided on the impeller base 16 extending generally radially outwardly from the axis of the impeller. Each vane 18 communicates with the interior of the impeller through a passageway 19 and opens into the clothes receptacle adjacent the periphery of the impeller through an elongated passage 20. The passage 20 is formed in such manner that it opens into the clothes receptacle at a point spaced back of the ends of the vanes 18 so that the side walls 18a on each side of the vane form a protective wall extending beyond the outlet. This prevents the outlet 20a from being clogged with clothes moving along the outer periphery of the impeller base 16.

A cylindrical filter screen 21 is fixed to a circular stepped base ring 22. The screen is preferably fixed to a smaller stepped portion 22a and a resilient sealing member 23 is fixed to the shoulder 22b connecting the smaller portion 22a with a larger support ring 22c which rests on spider 14 of the impeller. The resilient sealing ring 23 bears against the inner surface of the impeller shaft 15.

A combination bleach and fabric conditioner dispenser 25 extends into the upper open end 26 of the hollow shaft 15 of the impeller and into the upper end of cylindrical screen 21. This dispenser is made up of an elongated cup shaped member 27 having an integral spaced supporting vanes 28 radially spaced from its outer periphery intermediate its ends and at the top of the screen 21 to engage the top of the screen and provide support therefor. A plurality of openings 29 are provided in the sidewall of the member 27 at the level of the supporting ring 28. Spaced above the openings 29 and integral with cup 27 is a flange 30 extending radially outwardly from cup 27. A vertical cylindrical sidewall 31 is fixed to the flange 30 and extends to the level of the top of cup 27 to form an annular trough 32 between the outer wall of cup 27 and cylindrical sidewall 31. A radial flange 33 extends outwardly from sidewall 31 to connect with an annular trough 34 formed by downwardly extending wall 35, bottom wall 36 and upwardly extending wall 37. The bottom wall 36 is provided with spaced openings 38 which communicate from the interior of trough 34 into the clothes receptacle. Preferably an inwardly extending annular top ring 39 is provided above trough 34 having a downwardly directed lip 40 defining axial inlet opening 41.

The. operation of the machine of this embodiment operates generally as follows: The unit'is assembled as shown in FIGURE 1. Bleach is placed in the bottom of cup 27 and fabric conditioner in trough 32. The clothes receptacle is filled to operating level (intermediate top and bottom) in the clothes receptacle with clothes and water. The machine is started to reciprocate shaft 11 in usual manner. Water from the clothes receptacle flows through openings 17 in the impeller shaft, through screen 21 into the interior of the impeller and from thence through openings 19 into the hollow vanes 18. The reciprocating motion of the vanes 18 causes the water in the interior of the vanes to be thrown out through passages 20 in the vane ends by centrifugal force and at the same time a small amount to be splashed into cup 27 until it overflows into the wash. Water is thus caused to flow continuously into passages 17 through screen 21 and out passageways 20 thereby filtering lint from the wash water on screen 21. At the same time water from the receptacle flows through openings 29 in the bleach cup. The bleach is dispersed in the water and throw-n outwardly through passages 29 by the turbulence created through the reciprocating motion of the impeller. During the wash cycle the fabric conditioner remains in trough 32 unaffected by the washing action. When the wash cycle is completed the water is drained from the clothes receptacle in any conventional manner and the clothes are centrifugally dried in part by rotating the receptacle and impeller at high speed in one direction. This causes the fabric conditioner to rise up the inclined surface of wall 31 and be thrown against wall 37 of trough 34 where it is held by centrifugal force during the centrifugal drying step. When the machine moves into the rinse cycle the high speed rotation ceases, rinse water is introduced and the reciprocable motion of impeller resumes. At this point the fabric conditioner drains from wall 37 onto the bottom of trough 34 through openings 38 into the clothes and rinse water in the clothes receptacle.

n the embodiment of my invention illustrated in FIG- URE 3 I have illustrated an impeller identical with that of FIGURES 1 and 2 and bearing the same identifying numerals. -A removable cylindrical screen assembly made up of a cylindrical screen 51 fixed to a small circular base ring 52a which is part of a stepped ring 52 having a shoulder 52b connecting the smaller ring with a larger ring 520. The shoulder 52b is provided with a resilient sealing ring 53 which engages the interior of the hollow impeller shaft 15. The larger ring 520 rests upon spider 14 of the impeller and supports the screen assembly. An upper support ring 54 fits within and supports the top of screen 51. The ring 54 is provided with an inwardly.

outwardly sloping wall 61 and is designed to fit within the open end of hollow impeller shaft 15. The outer wall 61 is provided with a radial flange 62 which connects to a trough 63 depending from .said flange and surrounding the upper end of the impeller. The bottom wall 64 of trough 63 is perforated'by opening 66. The outer wall 67 of trough 63 extends above the shaft 15 and carries an inwardly extending flange 68 and downturned lip '69. Preferably a rubber ring 70 is provided 7 claim.

ment on the axis of rotation of the clothes receptacle,

drive means for selectively oscillating the impeller and rotating the clothes receptacle and impeller, a hollow central passage in said impeller, spaced hollow radial vanes communicating with said central passage adjacent its lower end and discharging adjacent the outer circumference of said impeller, inlet openings in said impeller intermediate the ends of the central passage, removable screen means in the central passage between the inlet openings and the spaced hollow radial vanes whereby water is caused to flow through said inlets, through the screen and out the vanes, cup means in the end of said screen forming a support for said screen and a receptacle for a clothes treating or Wash agent, openings in said cup adapted to permit water to flow in and out of the cup as the impeller oscillator and a rinse-agent dispenser on the agitator'partially within the central hollow passage including a first annular receptacle for said rinse agent within the central passage for 'holding said rinse agent during oscillation of the impeller, a second annular receptacle having a perforate bottom surrounding the first annular receptacle and the outer periphery of the impeller for receiving said rinse agent when the impeller is rotated in the centrifugal extraction step and discharging the rinse agent through the perforate bottom upon termination of the centrifugal extraction step.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,916,900 1271959 Gerhardt et a1. 68- 18 2,976,711 3/1961 Smith 68-17 2,932,120 5/1961 Pelensky 68-17 x r 3,290,903 12/1966 McAllister et al. 68-18 IRVING BUNEVICH, Primary Examiner. 

